Keeping alive the Islamic tradition of scholarship, insight, and purification...one day at a time.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

LESSON OF THE DAY 442

Ayahs of the Day:So never think of God as betraying the divine promise to the messengers thereof, for God is Almighty, Master of retribution. One day the earth will be exchanged for another earth, and so will the heavens; and they will go forth before God, the One, the Overwhelming. (14: 47,48]

Hadith of the Day:Allah Most High says, "If I try someone by taking his/her sight and he/she is patient, I will reward him/her with Paradise." [Bukhari]

Wise Quote of the Day:Who is better among Allah's worshippers than the one who sees others as better than him? [Abu Bakr Saidlani]

Guidance of the Day:The reason why people cannot be relieved of useless anxieties is their lending ear to the whisperings of Satan. He who is occupied with futile anxieties, who forgets Allah and does not think clearly, is always open to the whisperings of Satan. If one does not exercise his willpower and act conscientiously and if he lets himself drift in the course of events, he becomes completely under the control of Satan. One of the most crucial patterns of behavior of Satan is his giving people anxieties. Therefore, all misapprehensions, pessimism and anxieties contrived in the mind are caused by the whisperings of Satan.

Allah shows people the way to save themselves from this situation. In the Quran, Allah advises people that when an impulse from Satan provokes them, they should seek refuge in Allah and remember Him. The important thing is to know that these thoughts will be of no use to the person and will, on the contrary, hamper him from thinking the truth, reflecting on important matters, and therefore purifying the mind from these useless thoughts. Man can think properly only if he frees his mind from futile thoughts.

A wise person who believes in Allah and the Hereafter, when he reflects on the fact that the life of this world is temporary, realizes that the world is temporary, which causes him to engage in zealous struggle for his real and eternal life in the Hereafter. Since he knows that this life will sooner or later end, he does not become carried away by the ambition for worldly passions and interests. He is extremely resigned. Nothing in this temporary world annoys him. He always cherishes the hope of attaining an eternal and pleasant life. He also greatly enjoys worldly blessings and beauty. [Deep Thinking]

Food for Thought:Worry is like a rocking chair--gives you something to do, but doesn't get you anywhere.